Millcreek Canyon Hike

On Sunday Riley and I took Benny up to Millcreek Canyon for a hike. Unfortunately you can't take dogs up Big Cottonwood Canyon, which is where the main trailhead for Dog Lake is. You CAN access it from the Millcreek side, but the base of the trail is up past where the road is closed for winter still. So we decided to try out the Pipeline Trail instead. We had limited time so we only made it probably a mile or two in, but it sure was pretty! I think we take for granted our amazing surroundings living so close to the mountains. We can seriously travel 20-30 minutes and be up in a secluded area enjoying nature and the wonderful weather. It was a bit on the chilly side but was much better than the snow! On even numbered days dogs don't have to be on leashes so Benny was enjoying his new found freedom. He's still in the learning stages of becoming trustworthy off lis leash but he does a pretty good job for the most part. He doesn't run off never to be seen again, but he does enjoy chasing the occasional jogger...naughty...

Easter 2012-Motorcycle Ride

For Easter this year we went for a motorcycle ride after church. The weather couldn't have been better! We decided to drive up Weber Canyon to East Canyon Dam. I'm pretty sure the grass is greener and the air is a little cleaner up there! If I didn't have a job and other obligations in the Salt Lake Valley I would move up that direction in a second. I LOVE it.

I have to apologize in advance for the pictures, they might be a bit blurry. Turns out you can't take great pictures on the back of a motorcycle :)

This is why we don't have nice things...

Because when we DO...pictures like THIS are taken.

Kristi and I went out to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack the other day. I had never eaten crab straight from the shell like that, so it was quite the experience. These are the pictures that resulted from our evening out. We should never be allowed in public again!

Paintballing

A few days ago Riley's cousin Jordan texted him asking if we'd be interested in going paintballing Saturday night. I was a bit apprehensive at first, seeing as I haven't been paintballing since Jr. High, but eventually I agreed to go. It was at an indoor place called Utah Xtreme Paintball. We played with a few adults and a bunch of younger kids (it was for Riley's younger cousin's birthday and they had rented the place out). I only got hit once in the mask, possibly because I was terrified and stayed behind the inflatable protection things like the entire time..but I think I shot a few people! Ha!! Riley was way more into it thought. It must be a guy thing? Anyways, just thought I'd put picture proof that I did in fact go! Thanks fot the invite Jordan!

Touring!

Maybe a month or so ago Riley broke down and bought a motorcycle. He had been wanting one for a long time now but couldn't decide which kind he wanted to buy. Last summer we went and test drove quite a few "street fighter" type motorcycles, which Riley really liked but weren't really comfortable for me to ride on for long distances. The idea was to have one that we could both ride on for extended periods of time. He had been perusing KSL for months after not finding the perfect one last year and finally found the one he wanted! It wasn't running when he first bought it and it needed work, but it was a screaming deal! It's a 1984 Goldwing Aspencade edition. He worked on it for several Saturdays and after work during the week and got it up and running. Then he had to wait for nice weather (which you'd have thought was going to be the death of him).

Not a week after Riley bought his, my dad decided that he also needed a "touring" motorcycle. He has had a motorcycle for quite a few years, but wanted one that my mom would ride with him. So pretty soon my dad came home with a shiny new BMW...he just HAD to show us up ;)

Thursday night we went on our first official "tour" (which is what my dad and Riley have been calling rides these days). We drove up Weber canyon and stopped at Chris' gas station/restaurant in Huntsville for a bit to chat. Then we drove back through Ogden canyon and stopped for dinner and Mormon muffins at the Greenery! We also spent some time walking through the little shops at Rainbow Gardens.





We're all super excited to plan trips to Moab/Jackson Hole/Yellowstone on the bikes this summer! Warmer weather can't come soon enough!

Grand Opening of City Creek

Thursday morning Sarah and I make the trek down to the Grand Opening of the new City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The stream with actual trout flowing through the whole thing is beautiful, the outdoor fireplace is amazing, and the stores are stunning! We meandered our way through Nordstrom, Coach, Tiffany's, Michael Kors, H&M, and lots of others. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful!





We met up with my mom, McKenna, and Carter for lunch at Happy Sumo. The Gateway was a ghost town!! I splurged that day and ate a Vegas roll for lunch...mmmm...afterwards we all met my dad for custard at Nielsen's. Couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a day off!!

Hawaii 2012

This past week we went to Oahu with my family! Our flight left at 3:30PM on Thursday the 16th and landed in Hawaii late that night. We stayed in this beautiful rental home three houses down from the beach on the North Shore.



This is the home where we stayed! Fabulous, eh?!

Day 1-
We went to the Laie Temple and the Polynesian Cultural Center. We did the Ambassador tour and got to see all the cool country representations. The luau at the end of the night was my favorite. Lots of good food!! The purple tarot rolls were the best.







Day 2-
We spent the first half of the day at the beach by the house we were staying at. We watched lots of surfers catch the huge waves, buried eachother in the sand, and when it came time to leave we almost couldn't get my dad to leave the water! He was having too much fun "body surfing". A random black dog also adopted us for the day and hung out for a few hours.





Later that day we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We enjoyed walking around seeing all the cool scenery and had a delicious pineapple whip! Mmm...If I thought I could smuggle some home without it melting I would have.



Day 3-
Sunday we went to church in Kahuku. Everyone was super nice and introduced themselves to us while we were there. We felt very welcome and had a great sacrament meeting. Later that day we went snorkeling at Turtle Bay! We took a video with our "GoPro" camera, so I will have to upload that and see if it turned out cool! We specifically bought the camera with this trip in mind, so hopefully it is neat.





Day 4-
On our last day we went to Pearl Harbor. It was probably one of my personal favorite parts of the trip. No one in my family had ever been, and Riley hadn't been for a long time. We did the full tour so we got to tour through the USS Missouri (AKA the Mighty Mo), the USS Arizona, and the USS Bowfin submarine. It was such a neat experience! Those ships are HUGE and really gave me a new perspective on the whole thing.

One thing that I thought was really interesting was that even after 70 years the USS Arizona is still leaking oil to the surface. You can see that in the picture.





Before we left for the airport on our last night we spent some time walking around Waikiki. We walked through the area of beach by where our hotel was the last time we visited Oahu.




We had a great experience spending some time in the warm weather. Riley is seriously considering letting me transfer to BYU-Hawaii ;) Thanks for the trip Mom and Dad! We'll definitely be back!

PS-Shrimp Chips, although they must be quite popular because they are sold at every convenience store/roadside stand/gas station, are NOT good.